Shane Lowry and Brooks Koepka fell just short of making the cut at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, missing out by a single stroke. Lowry, the champion of this event two years ago when paired with Rory McIlroy, had teamed up with five-time major winner Koepka this year due to McIlroy's absence. The duo started strongly with a 66 in the fourballs but followed up with a 69 in the foursomes, leaving them one shot shy of the cut mark at 10 under.
Meanwhile, Matt Fitzpatrick and his brother Alex surged up the leaderboard with a seven-under 65, placing them in a share of second place after 36 holes. The American pair of Alex Smalley and Hayden Springer maintained their lead, moving to 16 under after a round of 70, just one stroke ahead of the Fitzpatricks and two other pairs.
A win for the Fitzpatrick brothers would cap off a memorable few months, with Matt having risen to No 3 in the world rankings after victories at the Valspar Championship and the RBC Heritage. Alex has also been in fine form, securing his maiden DP World Tour title at the Hero Indian Open in March. Tied with the Fitzpatricks for second are Davis Thompson and Austin Eckroat, as well as Billy Horschel and Tom Hoge, all on 15 under. English interest remains with Aaron Rai and his partner Sahith Theegala at 12 under, and Matt Wallace and Marco Penge just a shot behind at 11 under.
The Zurich Classic, the only team event on the PGA Tour, sees teams compete in a four-ball format in the first and third rounds, before switching to a foursomes format in the second and final rounds. The top 33 teams and ties will progress to the weekend, with a sudden-death playoff to decide the winner in the event of a tie after 72 holes.
With a raised prize purse of $9.5m, the winners will share around $1.372m and earn 400 FedExCup points each, as well as exemptions to major tournaments in the 2027 season.